Suture supporting and attaching plate



April 5, 1932. A. w. ANDERSON 1,352,098

SUTURE SUPPORTING AND ATTACHING PLATE Filed April 22. 1931 '20 cleansingawound so sutured, and the danger W311 16 Which is preferably integral with 70 25 suture as often as desired after it has been the arms latentecl Apr. 5 1932 I j g UNITED. s-Tares YTE-NT oFFicsl ALFRED w. ANDERSON, F oAKrARK, ILLINoIs SUTURE sUrronrING AND ATTAGHING P ATE Application filed April 22, 1931. Serial N0.531,941.

This invention relates to suture supporting Fig. 7 is a blank from which the modified and attaching plates adapted for use in the form of deviceshown/in Fig. 6 is it'ormed. practice of surgery, in the closing of wounds In the drawings a device embodying the or incisions. v p lnvention is shown in position on the skin 10 It is general practice to pass a suture of a patient, and the fatty and muscular 55 through the skin ad acent an incision, downl yers beneath the skin are indicated at 11 wardly through the fatty and muscular layand 12. An lllClSlOIl is indicated at 13. ers, by means of a curved needle, then upln that embodlment of the invention shown wardly through said layers and the skin at he-drawlngs, the suture supporting and 10 the opposite side of the incision, to draw attaching plate comprlses a base which may no the edges of the skin together and then tie h s an lally flat or shaped to be coinplethe ends of the suture into a knot. The knotmental 0 e Surface 10. on which it is inted suture thus crosses the incision and rests ed t rest. The base consists of two on the sensitive skin adjacent the wound. In pp slt ly facing, L-shaped members, the

15 the event anyswelling takes place after the arms 4- f hlCh are lntended to extend e5 suture has been applied, no means are pro- Parallel t h the arms 15 at g gl vided for relieving the strain and the disthe 11101SI1 13. These L-shapedbase comfort of the patient. Another objection members 3 OImeCted together in spaced to the practice referred to is the difiiculty of apart relatlOIl by an upwardly pro ecting f i f ti the arms of the base and rises from the The object of'the present invention is to lhhel" g d arms e-upr ght provide a suture supporting and attaching Wall 16 1S p e 'erably ut away as indicated plate which will permit of adjustment of the y the curvedhhe at the P between '75 applied. Another object is to produce a de- The Wall PPQ a horlzohtahy vice which, without bearing on the skin ad- Posed member 18 Whlch S the Suture attachjacent the incision, will support the suture mg P h-- The P1 r q 011 in such manner that it will not bear on the lohglhudlhahy f h g margln Wlth wounded region. Another object isto pronarrow shts 19Wh1Ch e lhwardljfmm 80 vide a device of the character described which Sald free g Shts 19 h each Side O will permit free circulation of air adjacent the center extend dlegonally y and d 1 11 f Cleans-m0 f toward opposite end margins oi? the plate 18. 31: am W1 am 1 Ad acent each end the plate 18 is cut to form In the drawings tongues 20 bent slightly upwardly from the 85 Fig. 1 is an enlarged perspective view of g g' g g a aperture in the w s n j gggg gg g attachmg plate em 'Asdbest shown in IFig. 3, the wall 16v ifs inj b cline so as to over an the arms 15 o the i z View of the we s 1t base to some extent in .oider to bring theslit so Fi 3 is a transverse vertical section taken edge of the P13305318 Substantially mldwafy be e- 2 tween the margins 22 and 23 of the device. 011 the 11118 0f Theunder surface of the base members 14:

4 is a dohglthdinal jvertical 3 9 and 15 may be provided with ridges 24 which taken on the hhe of 1; extend transversely of the device and paral- 95 the direction indicated y h arrows; lel to the incision 18' when the plate is in the Fig. 5 is a bl n ro Whlch the Clevlce of position shown in Fig. 4.. These ridges 24: Fig. 1 is formed. project downwardly and inwardly, that is,

Fig. 6 is a transverse vertical sectional toward the transverse median line of the view of amodified form of. the invention. device; 1%

In using my invention, the suture 25 is applied inthe usual manner so that the ends toward each other. In this position no part of the base or of the upwardly extending wall 16 is in contact with the incision or with the points where the sutures emerge, from the skin. The free edge of the plate 18 is-spaced from the wound and is substantially directly above a line extending across the incision and through the points where the sutures emerge.

The surgeon preferably grasps the device and holds it in position by an instrument which engages the plate 18 adjacent the aperture 21. The suture ends 25" are inserted through slits 19 at opposite sides of the center of the edge of the plate 18 and are then passed under the tongues 20 on topof the plate 18 as best shown in Figs. 2 and 4. In this manner the sutures are supported out of contact with the wound and are adjustably and'removably held in desired position and may be readily loosened and reattached.

The device may be made in various sizes, it being intended that the base arms be spaced apart sufficiently to accommodate the sutures inwardly of said arms, and the distance be tween the 'margins 22 and 28 being substantially equal to the distance between adjacent sutures. I

In Figs. 6 and 7 I have illustrated a modilied form of the invention in which the parts are identical with those heretofore described, excepting that the free edge of the plate 18, near its ends,

is provided with legs 26 to aid in supporting the attaching plate 18 and to render the device as a whole, firm and reliable. The legs 26 extend downwardly and at their lower ends are provided with feet 27 which rest on the skin 10.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the parts adjacent the incision are not in direct contact with the suture supporting and attaching plate and that the wound may be kept perfectly clean and infections avoided; also that while the suture ends are drawn toward each other sufliciently to close the wound, they are not knotted together and are attached to the plate 18 in such manner that they may be easilyloosened in the event swelling occurs, and thereby the patient is rendered comfortable.

Changes may be made in details of con struction without departing from the scope scribed, except as set forth in the appended claims. 7

I claim 1. A suture supportingand attaching device comprising a base consisting of two oppositely facing substantially L-shaped members, a substantially upright wall connecting said L-shapd members together in spaced apart relation, and a suture attaching- .plate carried by said wall in a plane above the base members.

2. A suture supporting and attaching device comprising a base and a suture attach- I ing plate mounted on'the base, said plate being provided on one margin with slits and on its top with tongues adapted to receive and frictionally hold said suture ends. v

3.- A'suture supporting and attaching de vice comprising spaced apart base members and a suture attaching plate mounted on said base members and extending across the space between said members, said plate being provided on one margin with slits and on its top with tongues adapted to receive and frictionally hold said suture ends.

i. A suture supporting and attaching device comprising a base consisting of two oppositely facing substantially bers, a substantially upright wall connecting said L-shaped members together in spaced apart relation, and a suture attaching plate carried by said wall in a' plane above the base members, said plate being provided on one margin with slits and onits top with tongues adapted to receive and frictionally hold said suture ends.

5. A suture supporting and attaching device comprising a base and a suture attaching plate mounted on the base, said base being provided on its under surface with ridges which extend transversely of the device and project downwardly and inwardly toward the center of the device.

L-shaped mem 6. A suture supporting and attaching debers, a substantially upright wall connecting said L-shaped members together in spaced apart relation, and a suture'attaching plate carried by said wall in a plane above the base members, said base being provided on its under surface with ridges which extend transversely of the device and project downwardly and inwardly toward the center. ofthe device. I f I 7 8. A suture supporting and attaching plate comprising base members extending substantially parallel to each other and spaced apart a distance sufiicient to rest on the skin at each side of an incision and outwardly of the points where the suture emerges from the skin, and a suture supporting plate mounted on said base members in a plane above the same and adapted to extend from one base member to the other across the incision with out contacting with the skin, said plate being provided with means for detachably engaging the suture ends.

9. A suture supportingand attaching plate comprising base members extending substantially parallel to each other and spaced apart a distance sufiicient to rest on the skin at each side of an incision and outwardly of the points where the suture emerges from the skin, and a suture supporting plate mounted on said base members in a plane above the same and adapted to extend from one base member to the other across the incision without contacting with the skin, said plate being provided with means for detachably engaging the suture ends, said means consisting of a plurality of slits extending diagonally inwardly from one margin of the plate.

10. A suture supporting and attaching plate comprising base members extending substantially parallel to each other and spaced apart a distance sufiicient to rest on the skin at each side of an incision and outwardly of the points where the suture emerges from the skin, and a suture supporting plate mounted on said base members in a plane above the same and adapted to extend from one base member to the other across the incision without contacting with the skin, said plate being provided with means for detachably engaging the suture ends, the base members being provided on their lower surfaces with ridges projecting diagonally toward the incision when the device is in use.

11. A suture supporting and attachlng plate comprising base members spaced apart a distance sufficient to rest on the skin at each side of an incision and outwardly of the points where the suture emerges from the skin, and a suture supporting plate mounted on said base members in a plane above the same and adapted to extend from one base member to the other across the incision with out contacting with the skin, said plate being provided with means for detachably engaging the suture ends.

12. A suture supporting and attaching plate comprising base members spaced apart a distance sufiicient to rest on the skin at each side of an incision and outwardly of the points where the suture emerges from the skin, and a suture supporting plate mounted on said base members in a plane above the same and adapted to extend from one base member to the other across the incision without contacting with the skin, said plate being provided with means for detachably engaging the suture ends, said means consisting of a plurality of slits extending inwardly from one margin of the plate.

13. A suture sup-porting and attaching plate comprising base members spaced apart a distance suflicient to rest on the skin at each side of an incision and outwardly of the points where the suture emerges from the skin, and a suture supporting plate mounted on said base members in a plane above the same and adapted to extend from one base member to the other across the incision without contacting with the skin, said plate being provided with means for detachably engaging the suture ends, the base members being provided on their lower surfaces with ridges projecting diagonally toward the incision when the device is in use.

14:. A suture supporting and attaching plate comprising spaced apart base members adapted to rest on the skin of a patient at opposite sides of an incision, a raised plate mounted on said base members extending from one to the other, and means on said plate for holding the suture ends without the necessity of tying said ends together and for permitting detachment of said sutures without cutting the same.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I afiix my signature, this 20th day of April, 1931.

ALFRED W. ANDERSON. 

